Train and tube strikes

[uneffingbelievable]

I can not work from home and my job is fairly essential.

To get to work next week - I have now along with many of my colleagues had to:

1. Book a hotel on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights
2. Pay for parking at the station for 4 full days
3. Organise extra child care and a taxi to pick DCS up from school ( too far to walk and no bus)
4. Will have to pay to eat out for those days

If the rail unions had not noticed we are ALL facing a cost of living crisis - wasting the best part of £500 to get to work is not endearing me to your cause.

The alternative of drive in and out each day in the traffic and pay for parking in London and then walk miles comes in at around £350 and exceedingly high BP.

Your actions are selfish beyond belief and hurt the innocent hardworking majority.

That is the polite version - selfish beyond belief

Agree we need more unions, not less.

It’s not about not being bothered to work. It’s about standing up for their rights as workers.

it’s scary how many people think employees should accept being treated badly. When inflation is at 11% a pay freeze is basically a pay cut.

I am pissed off too. I can't visit my elderly mum. During the pandemic (seems so long ago but it wasn't) I didn't see her for a year. Now I can't go because of a fucking strike. I am furious. I also am feeling the pinch but won't get a rise. See me striking? No, I go and work in MH and listen to others who are struggling.

Why not a work to rule? Why not one day? Why a whole bloody week. Selfish.

Oh and before anyone says "go next week", I can't. They were advance tickets and I can't afford another set of tickets unless I get a refund. Which I will only do it there's a strike. And yea won't be able to go until advance tickets are available, because I don't have money due to the cost is living crisis.

The country is In shambles. If anything, there should be more strikes, people should be flooding the streets and push the government to take action in some many areas.

I wish people could look beyond their own inconvenience and see the big picture.

I have to! If we all get a pay rise then this bloody inflation doesn't end.

Too many people is just happy to plod along, without causing any disturbance when everything around them is crumbling down.

First world country with NHS staff using food banks and getting parking fines for “overstaying” at their place of work. These are the people who are saving lives.

So if you think railway strikes are inconvenient, wait for the NHS to walk out …

Many people commuting will just stay home so agree with that, although others who can’t will be hit harder

On separate issue private sector employees will be decreasing wages due to inflation, if we increase to match inflation how do you stop wage spirals and increased inflation yet again

I’ve always been in easy redundancy sector so that feels different to what I know

I wish people could look beyond their own inconvenience and see the big picture.

I am. I am seeing at least five staff on my local station who are either gossiping or playing on their phones. Only one is helpful, the rest can't be bothered with anything.

I see union bosses paid hundreds of thousands.

I see people like me who need the money worried about the strike. I see restaurants losing reservations after a tough time recently.

In what way is that not a big picture?

OP the strike isn’t everyday. In your shoes I would take Tuesday off. Travel Wednesday as normal, stay Wednesday and Thursday and travel back as usual on Friday.

I fully support anyones right to strike no matter the disruption.

It's the poor kids who have been completely done over already for the he last 2 years having to get to school for GCSEs and a levels I feel really sorry for. They have to be on time or won't be allowed to sit the exams. This situation has nothing to do with them. Tube strike and team strike won't help them.

Should sack the lot of them

Don't like the pay and conditions then change jobs like the rest of us do

You won't be able to travel normally on the days in between. It will be chaos for the week. Those of us who suffered weeks of strikes on Southern a few years back know that only too well.

True it will hit businesses already hit hard by pandemic and now energy rises and just getting it back together and people who can’t easily wfh

Maybe the reason this is so hard hitting is because we're not used to strikes anymore.

Maybe if more industries had strong unions willing to strike we wouldnt have working conditions worsening and health and safety referrals increasing

May I ask what you do for living and whether you are able to WFH?

You don't have to answer, of course.

So what would you suggest?

Instead of decrying the strength of the RMT as a union, a better idea would be to join the union of your own profession and make it just as strong. Workers taking power back is the only way not to be completely shafted.

They are not taking power back. They won't get their demands met.

They are just sticking it to those of us who need to work.

Holding a strike during exam time is a cunt-y thing to do and I hope they all lose their jobs.

I think you'll find that they can't all be sacked?

I think you'll find if they were all sacked it might be just a bit more disruptive.

I'm name comments like this are great, because it shows such lack of critical thinking it can't just be discredited.

*its inane

Truly depressing are the views on collective direct action in this thread. As a society we are more fucked than I realised, no pay and conditions will ever improve if people aren't willing to take action like this. Why should people accept below inflation pay rises? How much more can people take?

If the rail unions had not noticed we are ALL facing a cost of living crisis - wasting the best part of £500 to get to work is not endearing me to your cause.

Why are you blaming the employees for a company not providing you a service?

Your contract is with the company. Its their job to negotiate with employees to avoid disruption in service. Random workers don't owe you anything.

If you want to live somewhere that workers don't have the right to withdraw their labour and must do as the boss says then I'm afraid there is just North Korea left.

Good Grief! What kind of upside-down world did I wake up in this morning?

Strikes are TANTRUMS now? People are striking for safer working conditions so that they too can go home at night to see their children rather than dying on the job. But this is "selfish"?

Am I still on Earth?